Game On

Game of Thrones: The Disappointing Truth Behind That Mysterious Tyrion Shot

This post contains frank discussion of Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 7, “The Dragon and the Wolf.” If you aren’t caught up, now is the time to leave.

A lot of revelations were flying fast and furious at the end of this week’s episode. Rhaegar is Jon’s father! Jon and Daenerys just got it on! “Jon” isn’t even his real name! But among all that information, you might have missed this truly mysterious shot of Tyrion processing the fact that Jon and Daenerys were tasting forbidden incestuous fruit. What is the deal? Is Tyrion jealous? Where is this coming from?

Well, for the sad truth, we might want to consult George R.R. Martin’s original 1993 letter to his publisher outlining his plan for Game of Thrones. We’ve already discussed at length that Martin’s original plan—to have Jon fall in love with his sister Arya (oh yes)—has been repurposed. Jon is still in love with a relative, but now it’s his much more age-appropriate aunt Daenerys. There was, however, also a third side to the love triangle in Martin’s original plan. He wrote:

Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the
surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in
love with Arya Stark while he’s at it. His passion is, alas,
unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a
deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow.

Most of Martin’s other planned themes in that original letter have come to pass in some form or another, which could mean that a “deadly” jealous rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow is also on the cards. I admit, I didn’t see this one coming.

But perhaps I should have. In the books, after he’s killed Tywin, Shae, and escaped King’s Landing, Tyrion is a much darker figure. We haven’t really seen the same depths of bitterness in Peter Dinklage’s performance these past few seasons, but Tyrion becoming an antagonist in the later books would probably come to no surprise to most readers.

What about this possible love for Daenerys? That’s a little trickier. Tyrion has yet to meet Daenerys in the books, so we have no idea how the novel version of all this will play out. But what’s true is that in the show, Tyrion was responsible for sending Ser Jorah away from Mereen (after correctly discerning that Mormont was in love with Daenerys). He was also the one who advised Daenerys to make Daario stay behind in Essos. When he did that, in last year’s finale, he said this intriguing line.

Jealous love for Daenerys would explain why Tyrion was so dead-set against her flying up North last week to rescue Jon and Jorah. He called her “the most important person in the world” while begging her not to play hero. At the time, that moment struck me as odd—but it makes a lot more sense if it’s coming from a man who loved her.

Truth be told, I’ve been slightly disappointed by the way the sex-loving Tyrion has been neutered over the past few seasons. His lecherous/romantic ways were always a huge part of his character. I chalked it up to him still mourning his love for Shae, but nevertheless disliked him as an asexual figure.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess. I’m still not convinced the HBO series has done the work to get us here, and it’s possible that Tyrion’s dismay is entirely political. Maybe he stripped away the men who love Daenerys from her life because he wanted her to keep her eye on the ball. That, at least, could be partially earned. Either way, we are almost exactly where George R.R. Martin wanted us to be when he wrote that letter back in 1993. At least this complicates the oncoming war; Daenerys will have to deal with dissension in the ranks as a jealous Tyrion may try to drive a wedge between Jon and his lover/aunt. Alas, he’ll have the perfect ammunition.